A Modern Day Love Story
by DarkHeart89
Summary: The message said: 'Call me, Pretty Boy.' He grinned slightly. Their feuding families might make this harder on them.. but he had a feeling he'd be seeing a LOT of Jade very very soon. / AU Jades from ALL of my other Jades stories [Jade West and James Diamond from BTR] - Rated T. One-shot.


A Modern Day Love Story

Summary: The message said:

'Call me, Pretty Boy.'

He grinned slightly. Their feuding families might make this harder on them.. but he had a feeling he'd be seeing a LOT of Jade very very soon.

Rating: T

Pairing: Jades [Jade West and James Diamond]

AN: This is an AU completely unrelated to the other ones I've written. I have yet to write how they met-met in my story arcs, but I do plan on it. I have some started from the past, but I preferred this. I literally wrote this prompt during English, because I had so many headcannons that fit the idea of 'Romeo and Juliet'. Before you groan at that, just give me a minute to explain.

No, I will not have them kill themselves. No, will I not have them elope. No, when I say 'Romeo and Juliet', I'm talking about feuding families. You'll see what I plan to do in a minute, calm your pants.

AllOfMeHatesYou is also not allowed to hate me for saying 'calm your pants', so when you read this - NO!

And speaking of him, making sure to check out his story, "Jade's Big Time Revenge" because it's my favorite story out there, very well written, and created by the best author I know. ^_^ It won't ensue ANY disappointment! It's the best!

This will probably be my last story for a while, because school's starting up and I write them so long, it takes FOREVER and I don't have the time for it. I'm so unhappy about it, :( Well, and I'm going to miss AllOfMeHatesYou. I CAN'T RP WITH YOU FOR A MAJORITY OF THE DAY ANYMORE, :( -Insert broken heart here- And yes, I totally wrote this here because there'd never be a good time to mention it. And I will miss you, :(

So this next year is going to suck. That's mainly why it will suck. No stories, not as much RPing.. There is no good part to going back to school. None.

Anyway, READ!

- Nat

[OoOoOoO]

"Mom, why're you making me go to this thing?" James whined, staring at the array of dress shirts he was stuck choosing from. Of course, the two-week visit oriented around seeing the guys' parents from Minnesota had proven a massive mistake. His mother was only there the second day and immediately he had to accompany his mother on some important dinner banquet for her company, something she'd arranged WHILE in LA.

Brooke Diamond entered his room abruptly, snatching up a light blue dress shirt and depositing it in James' hands. "This dinner's very important - it's a negotiation between my company and Olivia's; she's unpredictable and unprofessional and I might be able to remain opposite if you're there, understand?" His mother summarized, before looking at him expectantly.

James released an annoyed breath of air. "I guess. But you can't drag me to these all week like last time! Just this one! I want to **actually** spend time with you, something that doesn't revolve around dinners for your company." Despite contrary belief, Brooke Diamond was a very loving woman and James knew it well. She could be scary and intimidating, but she loved her only son very much and treated him well, she could just get caught up a bit too much in work sometimes. She just had the good worker drive and sometimes that was hard to shake.

"I promise you, James, that after tonight you'll be free of my work. But until then, you have to be very well-behaved and no messing around like how it is with you and your friends. It's strictly business." James' spirits dropped. All business? No fun at all? He was going to be bored out of his mind! As if there were any guys his age at this thing, or even any girls [god forbid], he was going to be listening to ranting and raving about a makeup line. This wouldn't be the epitome of entertainment, unless some cat-fight broke out.

He'd heard plenty from his mother about Liv West, or as his mother formally liked to address as Olivia to irk the woman, the top executive at whatever company his mother had told him countless times. He only paid attention to names of people, rather than the company name. It was something along the line of L.A. Cosmetics - if that ballpark was even close.

Apparently, Liv West had a lot of problems and took a lot of personal shots; her mother and she always feuded. It may have made things difficult, but he'd tolerate it. It's not like Liv West was exactly making his mother lose her job, no one had the authority to do that to his mother.

"- Great." James was not looking forward to this.

[OoOoOoO]

"So let me get this completely crystal clear, you want /me/ to skip a Friday night outing with /my/ friends to attend /your/ little makeup banquet with you?" Jade asked for clarification, narrowing her eyes. Her and the rest of the gang had planned to head to Karaoke Dokie and sing some songs, while attempting to overthrow the singing hierarchy run by Haylee's father. It was still good fun regardless of embarrassing them and feeding Jade's masochism.

Liv sighed and turned around, hands propped against the vanity in her room. She'd called her daughter in to get her to comply. "Yes, Jade. It'll be assuring to have you there, I need something so I don't tear that bitter woman's throat out!" She finished shortly, temper revealed. Jade had gotten it from her after all.

These were moments where she loved her mother. "Now, I'll show up just incase there happens to be a bloody battle between you and the gank, but I require payment."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Payment?"

"Yes, payment. I've had this night planned for a while and I'm changing my plans for you, so I require payment." She really shouldn't have expected anything less from Jade.

"Enlighten me." Olivia folded her arms, eyeing her daughter in irritation. She blamed Jade's father for all of the stubborn tendencies she'd derived.

Jade put her hands on her hips. "I want to borrow that dress you have in your closet, the one in the far back. If I'm going to show up as your daughter, I'm going to look good and you are too." She enjoyed throwing around how attractive she was. Thankfully, she'd gotten more of her mother's looks than her fathers, but it was a pleasant combination. Jade was definitely going to flaunt that alongside her mother tonight.

[OoOoOoO]

James reached carefully toward an alcoholic beverage from the bar when he **thought** his mother wasn't looking, but she quickly slapped at his hand and grabbed the glass herself, sending him a look that said 'not for you'.

"So I can't drink, there's no one cool to talk to, and I just have to stand here and look pretty the entire time?" He looked at her for confirmation.

She pressed her lips to the brim of the glass, a thoughtful expression taking over, before nodding and shrugging. "Pretty much." They'd rented out a nice restaurant to host this big business. James didn't often get to go to something this nice, so he was going to take advantage and probably order something that he wouldn't get other places. Nothing too funky, but something that would well suffice over what he'd normally spend on a meal.

"Great, great." His night was just looking brighter. His eyes did a scan around the room just to see whom he was dealing with. He saw a few decent looking women, probably just a few years on him [he was eighteen], he could always flirt them up if he felt like it, but didn't really have a strong desire to.

But his interest soon peaked when he saw what walked in.

"Confident stride, mother." Jade smirked as she walked around the doorway with her mother beside her. She'd done her up to look well. Olivia may not have been gifted with the cleavage her daughter had oddly received, but she certainly had a good face and a good body. They both had the same tantalizing eyes though, and it drew everyone in when they walked in.

Jade was wearing a rather tight black dress with white strips along her sides. It revealed plenty of cleavage, but could be considered classy on a woman such as her mother. She'd borrowed it from her strictly because it was tight. Plus, she looked older when it came to the dress and the heels, rather than seventeen.

Her mother had taken the business route [by Jade's prodding] of a high-waisted skirt and a white woman's dress shirt to be tucked in, the first few buttons casually undone. Her hair had remained down, in thick brown waves. Her daughter had taken a similar route, except with her black hair. They looked more like sisters than mother and daughter.

Jade definitely caught James' eye, while Liv bitterly caught Brooke's.

"Who's that?" James nudged his mother, unable to remove his eyes from Jade. She was oozing attraction, it was rather hard to dismiss and he definitely wanted to get to know this girl. He was single after all.

Brooke's hand considerably tightened around the length of her glass; jaw tensing. "Olivia West and her daughter, Jade." She'd recalled seeing the girl once before in prior meetings, she was just as unconventional as her mother. Her brown eyes turned to look at James, she knew that look on his face. "Hands off of her daughter, James. She's just as bad as her mother, if not worse." She'd had one conversation with Jade West and she'd attempted to act superior to her - which was not how you acted in the presence of Brooke Diamond.

James glanced towards his mother. "What? I'm just curious. I'm not going to talk to her," He flashed a quick, reassuring smile. "I'm here to have your back, mom, I got you." He patted his mother's back, before resulting in folding his arms. That was all complete deceit; he wanted to talk to this girl. "Hey, look, is that Lauren?" He pointed dramatically to the opposite direction and watched his mother's attention shift and he quickly sped off.

Jade held her clutch tightly, looking at her mother. "I happened to see Brooke. Still looking as awfully full of plastic surgery as ever." She commented with a roll of her eyes, striding to a table and allowing her mother to sit down. Soon enough, people began making their way over and greeting Jade and her mother. "I'll get us some drinks." She told her, pushing past plenty and heading over to the bar, when she felt the presence of another.

She knew someone was there before she even felt the tap on her shoulder and she whirled around, to face a rather over-poweringly tall boy. He was attractive, no doubt her age, and was stunningly attractive actually. Dimples, hazel eyes, sweet smile - it was surprising. She hadn't found anyone this attractive since Beck and this boy in front of her extended those boundaries very far. Nonetheless, she was dismissive. "What?"

He cracked a quick smile, the usual remedy to getting a girl to let go a bit. "I just happened to notice you. It's hard to find someone my age at one of these things." He was going to take the friendly approach right off the bat.

"Yeah, there's a reason for that." Jade answered rather flatly and passed him, heading towards the bar. Well, James definitely didn't want that. His mother was still over there, surrounded by people, but still over there.

He quickly clasped his hands over her shoulders and led her away from that, which evoked protest.

"What are you doing?!" Jade demanded and quickly sunk out of his grip, narrowing her eyes at him. "Who even are you? Why are you here? I have a purpose, you clearly have a different ulterior motive." She turned abruptly and crossed her arms, which really didn't help his eyes from wandering. Her eyes were intoxicating, but so was the dress she was wearing. "Well?" She asked again, tone growing more aggravated with every passing moment.

"My mother's over there and she'd rather not have me talk to you." He looked impish, rubbing the back of his neck with a freehand.

"Rebellious, aren't we?" She commented, shooting a glance over to the crowd. "Which one is she?" Though her curiosity had peeked for the reason why his mother would rather him not speak to her. Sure, the two companies were feuding, but that didn't directly involve Jade. She was an intendee, not a speaker. Backup was all she was wedged in for and the last time she had served as backup, was when she was young enough to actually enjoy this kind of controversy.

The only way she would enjoy it now was if her mother's body was hovered over Brooke Diamond's body, fiercely clawing her eyeballs out. Everything about Brooke drove her absolutely mad. Especially the way her raccoon eyes popped and clashed against her dark, electronically tanned silicon body.

James jabbed a finger over to his mother, exhaling. "She's real strict tonight. Won't let me have any alcohol either."

Her cerulean eyes paused on the woman, which happened to be Brooke, shrugging. "Just so long as mine doesn't know. She's over there." Jade then pointed respectfully over to hers, where James' eyes followed the finger to land on Liv.

"So we're both rebels." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing her to roll her eyes.

But then it hit both of them at the same time, their heads whipping to glare at each other in surprise, their reactions unisonly speaking with, "YOU!"

Jade's gaze was venomous as she now stared at the boy. /This/ was spawn of that dreadful woman that hated her mother so blatantly? Clearly, he was JUST like his mother. Deserving of being taken down a few pegs. No matter how attractive he was.

James stared at her with the same accusing look. Liv always took personal shots at his mother and he was sure this girl was the same way! At least that's what his mother had said. He'd heard an earful about how disrespectful she had acted. Then again - his mother could be a tad overbearing. Regardless, he would stick by his mother no matter how much he'd wanted to get to know this girl one-on-one [on a /very/ personal level], he would stick by his mother!

The brunette scowled and crossed her arms stubbornly. "So we have a primadonna boy, I'm guessing?"

"And we have a - " He struggled to muster a proper retort. "Mean girl!" He sharply, but lamely came back with. He wasn't the best with retorts unless he was really in the zone. This wasn't his environment, nor was this the type of girl he usually dealt with. She wasn't exactly like the Jennifer's.

Her lip quirked smugly. "Oh no, you've wounded me. Excuse me while I walk away with a limp." She turned sharply and set off in the direction she'd desired to go to in the first place: the bar. But once again, this boy inhibited her like the frustrating human being he was becoming to be.

James quickly caught her wrist in a panic, because he didn't need her telling her mother about him and then her mother mentioning something to his mother, and her finding out she was speaking to her. His mother could be a little harsh when people disobeyed her sometimes.. Besides, he didn't need his mother REALLY upset tonight, once they got back to the Crib after this little heated shindig. When his mother was angry, it was a scary sight.

He also proceeded to drag the flailing girl out of the restaurant, doing his best to keep her silent and draw the least amount of tension he possibly good. He received the occasional odd stare, but his mother and her mother were very occupied, which was relieving. Maybe he needed to have a little talk with Jade, because clearly she was as stubborn as he was to stand up for their mothers.

She was inwardly spazzing, while swatting sporadically at him. What was he going to do? Kidnap her like a freak? This was like that time Sinjin had been staking out in her closet, except the person was much much better looking, which at least made for a good kidnapper if he had to have his filthy way with her. She might not be scared of being manhandled by him. But still, no one touched Jade West and got away with it.

"LET GO OF ME!" She hissed as soon as he got her through the door, kicking at his legs, but he was easily the stronger of the two and kept her pretty still before he stopped, releasing her. She stumbled a little in the heels; releasing a huffy breath through her nose once she got her bearings. "NEVER touch me." She warned dangerously, rubbing ruefully at her wrists. She'd undoubtedly have bruises with a grip like his. "What? Can't best me verbally, so you're going to beat me up or something?"

His hazel eyes lit up in offense, gasping at her and glaring. "I would NEVER hurt a girl!" Chivalry wasn't dead in his eyes. He would never act out towards a girl, no matter the circumstances. Well, unless she had a knife to his throat or something. Otherwise, he had simplistic morals. But now he had to get to his point. "Well, I just noticed we're both kind of hostile about our mothers and if we let our mothers know about this, it might not end well for either of us."

"HA!" Her eyes lit up with understanding, before they filled to the brim with malicious mirth. He was doing this for his own personal gain! "Aw, Pretty Boy scared of Mommy if she knew he was hanging out with her rival's daughter?" She taunted, only igniting him further.

The problem with James was that he was bipolar and he'd passed over that hair of flipping. "YOU'RE JUST LIKE YOUR MOTHER!" On a normal day, he would have taken the title of 'Pretty Boy' conceitedly and as a compliment, and maybe he would try and flirt her up, but NOT today.

"AND YOU'RE NOT?!" She barked defensively. "MR. CONTROL FREAK, DO NO WRONG!" She'd been informed, clearly, just like he had. They both weren't clueless about the other. At least from a biased basis.

He got close, jabbing a finger in her face. "I AM NOT A CONTROL FREAK! I'M TRYING TO KEEP THIS SITUATION CALM!" Which was a bit contradicting given his angry expression and tone. But he didn't care; this girl was igniting the anger in him.

"NO, YOU'RE TRYING TO COVER YOUR OWN ASS; OWN UP TO IT!" She was nose-to-nose with him, and for what? Nothing. They shouldn't be fighting their mothers' battles; it didn't even involve them.

"SO? I HAVE TO GET SOMETHING OUT OF THIS! I TRIED FLIRTING WITH YOU AND YOU WEREN'T INTERESTED!" That was at least the vibe he'd picked up. Something about this girl didn't scream 'avid flirt' or 'easy'.

She opened her mouth to respond when she stopped and let his words sink in, slowly staring at him with a cautious expression, analyzing his face. "I wasn't interested?" She repeated questionably.

James crossed his arms, not making the distance any greater while he did. "Well, yeah. It didn't seem like you were interested! You were very - difficult!" He said after he sought after the right word. Difficult described her very well.

"We spoke for two minutes tops before you mentioned how the demon spawn didn't want you speaking to me." She threw back, tossing her hair over her shoulders haughtily, placing her hands on her hips. "There was no time for me to dismiss you." Which may have been her - disrupted way of saying she was a bit interested.

The taller boy looked at her skeptically. "Are you saying you're interesting?" His voice had taken on a slight high-pitched excited-ness, but then again - he was NEVER rejected [and if so, it was VERY rare], so this would ensure his record was unbreakable! Just like he'd always been the dumper, not the dumpee.

Jade took advantage of his excitement and slid forward, drawing in a little closer. It was a shame she /was/ interested and giving him such a hard time, when his cologne or whatever man spray he was wearing wafted into her nostrils, it intoxicated her. Or maybe that was his natural scent. She wasn't going to ask. A single, nimble finger drew down the buttons that held together his shirt, eyes locking to his. "Maybe.."

He inhaled, a coy smirk slipping onto his lips as he leant forward a little, their faces plenty close. He was obviously going to go in for a kiss; it was the most opportune moment he'd get the entire night. Why not get a hook-up? It couldn't be the worst thing in the world. And actually, it'd be the best. She was very attractive.

His mother could fight her own battles with her enemy; he'd just have fun getting together with that enemy's daughter. Why did all of the attractive girls had to be so lethal, even if she seemed to have mellowed down now.

He caught sight of the darkened, reddish lipstick she was wearing. Upon letting the scent drift into his nose, it smelt of - black cherry. It was enticing. And looked very delectable. He ducked his head in for a kiss, but was met with plenty of disappointment. He'd only caught a slight brush of her lips, before she was gone and now suddenly a whole foot and a half away from him. It'd been enough to make him want more. He could still feel the brush afterwards.

Jade wore a smug smile on her lips, now focusing on her clutch and digging through it. It made her be able to snicker a bit more secretively at his reaction. She'd thought she was going to take him down a few pegs for a reason; she always kept her mental promises. Soon, her fingers found what she was looking for, and a produced a cigarette along with her lighter, lighting up after a few hasty flicks of the device.

Despite him being quite a bit irritated by her difficulty, his gaze latched onto the cigarette in disapproval. "You're aware that's bad for your health, you know!"

She took merely two fingers to straddle the cigarette, pulling it from her lips and blowing a cloud of smoke in his direction. "I like to punish myself." He coughed and sputtered, waving at the cloud to push it away, sending her a dark look. She was playing some kind of game and he may have been a bit intrigued.

"Okay, so when you get some kind of lung disease, don't come crying to me!"

"I won't." She assured him, lifting an eyebrow as she took a few more drags. "You're lucky I'm doing this. Otherwise I'd be a lot worse with you."

He twisted his face; muttering to himself. "Wonder how you are with alcohol."

"Hm?" ANOTHER dark look forming. What was this girl; something straight out of a horror movie? Her eyes were tempting, but at the same time - they could be quite the daggers.

"Nothing." He shot back with a quick, innocent smile, before his face remained emotionless and rather, really, cross with her.

Eventually she put it out, crushing it with her heel and returning back to him. "Why aren't you heading back inside?"

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, shrugging. "What do I have better to do? Our mothers are probably handling themselves pretty well. She probably hasn't even noticed I was gone. Too busy glaring daggers at your mom. Shame, for such a hot woman, she's bitter. Kind of like you." He commented, which earned him a double-edged look.

She snorted. "One: EW! And two: that's OFFENSIVE. I wouldn't be remarking about anyone's personality, Pretty Boy."

James completely dropped the initial subject and began to tag on the name. "Pretty Boy, huh?"

"Don't get too cocky." She quickly forewarned. "Your face can only be used as consolation for so much of this Adonis complex you possess."

"So just my face?" He asked for clarification, unsatisfied with that. "There's SO much more. Like my trim, muscled physique." He gestured to himself, even going as far as flexing his arms in the dress shirt. Regardless of how agitating she found him, it wasn't just his face that caught her eye.

She'd always been into obscenely tall and slim men. Waist and down, he was slim. Above, he was very muscular. And he was plenty tall, considering he was probably six feet and a few inches. Her heels gave her a height advantage. He fit half of the formerly required bill, but the half he didn't fit - was well made up for. Maybe she'd start to have a thing for muscled men; starting with him quite easily.

Her eyes foretold otherwise, but her words spoke with, "Trim and muscled, mind enlightening me on where I can find that?" She was purposely giving him a hard time.

James didn't buy that for a second. "Uh-huh, whatever you say. I know my physique impresses you." He tilted his chin up knowingly. But then an idea popped into his mind. "This thing's not going to end for a while, you want to go grab a bite or something? Make something more out of this than watching a whole bunch of grown women get catty?" He offered, looking at her hopefully. It wasn't exactly as interesting as it would have been had some of these women been younger and ACTUALLY taking their own products. Then maybe some of them wouldn't look so severely veiny.

She may have found that slightly cute. "Eh, fine. I have nothing to lose. You're paying though, I just happened to leave all of my money at home." Looking satisfied as she turned and began walking off herself, confusing James.

He jogged over to her, nudging her with an elbow. "Where exactly are you going?"

"Ever been to the Cheesecake Warehouse?" She quizzed, uninhibited by his nudge as she kept her pace consistently fast. James felt like he was going for the hundred-meter dash with trying to keep up with her.

"Uh, you want cheesecake at eight o'clock at night?" He asked after a quick check to his phone, checking his reflection in it as well. Not that he was complaining - he liked cheesecake, it was his favorite dessert, it just could be fatty. He had a rep to keep with his body!

She rolled her eyes demeaningly. "That's not all they have." He still looked confused, so she just clasped her fingers around his wrist. "It's only a few blocks down. Keep up, I'll show you the way." Apparently, she was more comfortable with dragging him than allowing him to walk on his own.

What exactly had he gotten himself into?

[OoOoOoO]

"Told you it was going to be good." She smirked once they exited the establishment, both having satisfied their hunger. But that's not the only reason why James was satisfied. He'd made progress with the girl! He'd gotten her to talk and he'd learnt plenty.

She was a performer, like him. She went to a performing arts school called Hollywood Arts. That interested him; and she was a triple threat, which she'd stressed a few times.

Apparently James had more to offer than she expected. He was apart of a band, and a successful, popular one for that. She wouldn't have recognized him because she paid no attention to boy bands. But knowing he actually made a living doing what she liked to do was a big common interest to have.

Jade wasn't going to say she didn't like him, because she did. He was interesting and eye-catching. She'd expected him to be a shallow pretty boy. And sure, he seemed to be a little dim, but he made up for it in personality. She was good at analyzing people. He'd hit all her checks so far.

It was about time she moved on from the boyfriend she'd had before anyway. Or, at least give someone else a shot. Why not someone successful and interesting? So long as he wasn't going to be another Beck, she supposed she'd play nice.

"I didn't doubt you, I just thought it was going to be just a cheesecake thing!" He insisted to defend himself, stopping with her outside the building. "So where we going from here? We gonna head back before our mother's butcher us?"

"My mother's not capable of butchering me. I come from a darker side than she does." And she wasn't going to bother elaborating on that. "Why don't you come back with me to my house?" She noticed the way his eyes widened. "Don't get your your hopes up, Pretty Boy. It's platonic." The way his hopes depleted so blatantly made her smile slightly.

James pressed his lips together, weighing his options. His mother would probably already be mad at him to begin with.. SO might as well spend a bit more time with Jade. She wasn't as bitter now - which was helpful. It also kept him from having to explain to his mother where he'd been. He wasn't the best liar and telling her he'd been with Jade, she'd put the pieces together..

"Sure! Your place far?" He asked, as she proceeded to tug him along again, except gently - which he noticed and took pride in. It was progress, something he needed if he was going to get anywhere with her. She wasn't so much in his eyes as an one-night stand anymore. Why not get to know her? It wouldn't kill him. She'd already divulged /some/ information. He had to admit - the rebellious nature of them speaking and interacting despite their mothers hating each other was kind of fun.

He'd always had a rebellious streak; it was just usually brought out more with his three best friends than anything.

"Just a few more blocks. Everything's very convenient tonight." Her fingers released their grip on his wrist and led him down a few different streets. It was dark, so he'd tested placing a hand on the small of her back, which she surprisingly didn't object to. There was a slight flinch [that concerned him a little], but she relaxed.

Once they approached the door, she dug through her clutch again to retrieve the keys. It was a small rambler, but pretty high-class. It was nothing compared to what her father had, but LA Cosmetics wasn't exactly a booming business. There's a reason why they'd had to connect with James' mother's business. Their profit margin was diminishing.

She'd overheard plenty of phone conversations from her mother and filed through plenty of statements, along with paging through emails and emails on her mother's work computer. Jade was a bit of a snoop, but for good reason. She wasn't keen on going back to her father's to live - she never got along very well with her father.

"Excuse the mess and beware of the dog." She warned as she opened the door and immediately, a little white Pekingnese leapt up at her, but was more eager to greet the stranger. "STEVE!" She shouted shrewdly at the eager pup, bending down and grabbing the wriggling creature, holding tight as she walked in. Steve kept his head over her shoulder, insistently looking at James with his tongue hanging out enthusiastically.

It wasn't too messy inside, but there were some things scattered around. She flipped on the lights, which made it a little more evident - but it was mediocre in comparison to how the guys and him left the Crib some times. She set her clutch on the counter, and walked back over to James. "Alright, so obviously this is Steve and he's going to want to eat you like the squirm he is, the entire time you're here, so let him sniff you and give him a few pets, and we can actually have a decent rest of the night." She explained, looking at the dog harshly.

James nodded slowly, reaching a cautious hand out [considering she had said 'eat' after all] to pat the dog's head, in turn nuzzling into his hand eagerly.

Jade took note of his caution and snorted. "James, I was kidding. He's friendly, just sometimes 'too' friendly." She made a face, making him raise his eyebrows. "Ugh, I hate when people say that."

"You hate a lot of words and phrases." James commented with a chuckle, retracting his hand when Steve started to lick. Dog breath mixed with saliva was the WORST!

Steve seemed to have calmed down a bit, even if he was curious, so Jade set him down to go run around a bit. He needed to get his energy out before her mother returned.

"Mm-hm, I hate a lot of things. I have a web series on TheSlap. I should update it one of these days.." She trailed off, once again taking his wrists. "We can be in my bedroom until my mother returns. If she sees you, she'll assume things." She rolled her eyes, bringing him down the hall before stopping, opening a door to reveal a larger-scale room.

It was black once the lights were switched on, lined with plenty of things that suit Jade's personally. Especially a frame of butterflies pinned on some tagboard or something, hung on her wall. She took the Gothic stereotype and embellished it. It was modern-ish, so sort of tasteful, but not James' cup of tea.

He didn't know whose cup of tea this would be, actually.

" - Interesting room." He said after a minute, arching an eyebrow as he continued his analysis. Jade rolled her eyes; he was clearly scrutinizing it.

"I have an idea." She pushed him down into a sitting position on the bed. "Stay." She walked over to her desk, scouring through papers to retrieve her Pear laptop. James may have discreetly checked out her ass in that dress. Her chest was great, but her ass was a vivacious tease. If he didn't at least get a kiss tonight, he'd be very disappointed.

She bumped him to the side so she could sit next to him, earning a look from him, but she set the laptop down and speedily logged in, bringing up a few different things rather quickly. She was a speedy typer.

"Alright, so I make 'What I Hate' videos and recently, they've needed some updating. So you're going to join me. There's bound to be some things you hate that you'd like to express to the world." She summarized for him, looking at him with those eyes.

He could name something he hated.. and it was what she was doing to him with that dress AND those eyes. But he was sure he could think of a few things. At least it'd distract him for the time being. Besides, it seemed Jade was REALLY good at hating things.

What could go wrong?

[OoOoOoO]

"Alright, so we're back to an all new addition of what I hate, projected later this time. Anyway, I haven't updated in a while and not like I care, I just felt like it. This addition's special, because I happen to have my friend, James with me." Jade spoke while staring emotionlessly into the camera. James took pride in the fact she considered him a friend at this point. He'd just met her after all.

"Hi." He waved at the camera, flashing a charming smile. She scoffed, but kept speaking.

"He's from Big Time Rush, if some of you fan girls out there have heard of it." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, you know the drill. I'm going to talk about things I hate." Her eyes drifted to James. "You want to start?"

He'd been a little preoccupied checking out his reflection and ensuring he looked good on camera. "Huh?" He asked.

She glared and returned her eyes to the screen. "Well then I'm starting. I really hate people who are self-obsessed. So much so, that I'm sure they'd date a clone of themselves if that was an option." It went over James' head, because he was once again too distracted checking out himself. He was such a freak.

"Like James Diamond." That caught his attention.

"Hey." He grinned at her, before it slipped and he narrowed his eyes. "HEY! I am not self-obsessed!"

Jade gestured towards her laptop. "Mind telling that to your reflection? Or our audience? Or can you not tear your eyes away from your gorgeous face?" She mocked, though not with sarcasm - so James caught it.

"I KNEW you liked my face." He said, resting his head in his hand and simply smiling contently.

She sputtered slightly. James watched her and his face began to hurt from grinning. She was nearly - blushing? Possibly? He swore he saw a tint, but that might have been his imagination. A girl like Jade would never blush. Or maybe she would. "I NEVER said that!" She turned her head cautiously towards the camera again. "See? This is why I hate self-obsessed people. Hate them."

He pressed his hand to his mouth, as if he was sharing a secret with the camera and the camera only. "That's what she says to /you/."

Jade elbowed him, earning a 'HEY!', and crossed her arms sharply. "He's lying. Self-obsessed people lie."

"Beautiful people tell the truth! Which I am! Which is odd, because you're lying.. so.." James casually mentioned, smirking at his cleverness.

The brunette gasped and glared. "Are you calling me ugly?!" Well that backfired.

"What?! No! I was calling you beautiful! It was a whole thing," With the way she didn't look even slightly impressed, his shoulders sagged. "I thought I was being clever." He pouted. "I hate when people don't see clever mentions when they're said!"

Her eyes drifted across his face and something changed in her facial expression. " - I hate pouts!" Ooh, so his pout affected her? He'd keep that in his memory bank for SURE.

"I hate mean girls." That earned a glower. "I'm kidding! I like you, no worries." He winked and watched again - as something in her face changed. Ooh, he really affected her. He was taking advantage of this.

"Well, maybe I don't hate you." She submitted, her eyes lowering. "Just a strong dislike!" She corrected toughly. But once again, she was back into character. "Hm. I hate earwigs. And I hate when people mistake them for wigs for ears. That doesn't even make sense. No one would purchase a wig for an ear. Ear hair is disgusting."

"Wait, wait." James stopped her, looking at her in confusion. "Earwigs aren't wigs for ears?" He questioned cluelessly; seemingly innocent.

Jade started laughing, clasping a hand over her lips. She didn't even know why she was laughing, but something about the irony and the fact it suit him, was hilarious. She never laughed. He was making her all weird and uncanny. It was strangely - nice.

James couldn't help but smile when she was laughing. He didn't expect it! And it was cute. Pfft, he couldn't believe they'd been screaming at each other at the beginning of their night. Things had clearly changed.

"Oh God, you're so stupid." She finally rasped, shutting her laptop and ending the video. "That has to be the most ridiculous 'What I Hate' video I've ever made! I will NEVER upload that." She collapsed back onto her bed in exasperation.

He ignored the comment and fell back beside her, rolling on his side and tucking his hands under his head. "Oh come on, why not? It was the hottest one you've ever made! It had me in it!"

She sent him a look and splayed her palm on her stomach, leaning her head back. "I don't usually do this."

"Do what?" He inquired, confused.

"Well, invite a guy who I just met, back to my house. Right now, I'd be stomping on your pride."

"You've done plenty of that too," He joked, earning the hints of a smile.

She pursed her lips. "It's just odd. Very odd, for me." She glanced towards him again. "My mother just might mutilate me. If she finds you in my bed."

His eyebrows furrowed as the gears began to turn in his head, but she didn't allow him to think just yet when she leant forward and captured his lips. Why not? She'd pulled enough uncanny moves. She didn't usually kiss on the first unofficial date. But he was cute and he'd clearly - done things to her. It was just giving into temptation, anyway.

Once again, she was overwhelmed with his sent and she wound her fingers in the fabric of his shirt, putting a bit more passion in the kiss. It felt very nice to kiss him and she felt a little - coil in her stomach when she did. And he was a very good kisser.

He didn't waste time being surprised and clasped her face in his hands as he kissed back. The taste of the black cherry lipstick was even better than the scent. He may have kissed her for a long time that night.

[OoOoOoO]

Jade awoke to a loud knocking the next morning, which did a deal to her ever-present hatred for mornings. It was Saturday, so at least she wasn't obligated to get up at six. Thank God, for that.

"JADE!" The clarity of the voice was deafening. It was her mother. Her eyes skimmed to the body that her head was rested on and she realized it was James. The boy she'd met last night at the stupid business dinner. "ARE YOU DEAD?"

Apparently, she'd slept very heavily. Well, she could when her insomnia wasn't plaguing her. Guess that hadn't been a problem.

"GO AWAY, MOTHER. I'M INDECENT!" She shouted out, to get the intrusive woman to go away, making James stir some more underneath her, unintentionally squeezing her a little tighter with the arm wrapped around her body.

They hadn't done anything - Jade wasn't a Northridge slut. She'd just happened to fall asleep in his arms after they'd made out for a while. It was nauseatingly romantic.

James rumbled beneath her, prying his eyes open and blinking to find a girl awake on his chest. Oh yeah, Jade! The memories of last night played through his mind, however innocent they'd been despite the making-out [which had remained oddly sweet and passionate]. "Ugh, what time is it?" They shared a hatred for early mornings.

She reached around for her clutch [she swore she'd left it on the counter], smuggling her Pearphone out of it as she checked the time. "Ugh, ten." She dropped it in a huff and reburied herself in his chest. What? He was comfortable.

"So early," James moaned, but his attention shifted to Jade. She was cuddling into him. He hadn't expected things to turn out the way they did, to be honest. Especially with how she'd been acting to him the entirety of the night. Had someone slipped something in her beverages or something? She was very friendly. He kind of felt special.

She'd mentioned something about not trusting easily at dinner.

"I know." She mumbled into his chest grudgingly. "We didn't even go to sleep late last night." It'd probably only been eleven, if even that.

"Well we did make-out a while." He added cheekily, earning a scoff from the girl in his arms.

She raised a hand to wave dismissively at him. "Hush, trying to sleep here." He rolled his eyes, but allowed his eyes to reshut too, content.

But like before, their reality hit them in unison. The both of them shot up and Jade looked at him. "You have to go."

James was fumbling for his phone, turning it on and seeing a screen chalked FULL of texts from his mother, demanding where he was. Oh God, she'd probably put out an amber alert. The mom squad was probably doing search warrants. He was in deep trouble. "I DO!" Dropping his phone onto her bed in surprise.

He clambered into the bathroom in her room, fixing his hair [it was always a priority to look good, no matter the circumstances]. While doing that, he noticed the smudging of that black cherry lipstick she'd been wearing, smeared on his lips. He wiped at it with his thumb, a smirk that was all James Diamond lighting up his face. He'd scored.

His rushing concluded, zipping out of the bathroom as he snatched up his phone; Jade had been waiting impatiently by the door. "Come on!" She hissed and held him up, pressing a single finger to her lips to get him to stay silent as she slowly slipped through her doorway and into the hall, disappearing into the kitchen to distract her mother while he left. She would get the wrong idea entirely, especially since she knew whom James was [like Jade, he'd gone to these little things before, and she'd easily recognize his face. It was a bit unforgettable.].

The tall teen slunk through the halls as quietly as he could, trying to avoid making any noise. But once again - he'd forgotten about the dog. Steve came scampering out of NO WHERE and began jumping at his legs, making him have to move a lot faster and make a lot more noise.

He shrieked girlishly when he'd nearly slammed into the wall. He could NOT harm his precious face. That did the trick in alerting Jade's mother, whom Jade had been trying to distract with her acting experience.

Liv looked at Jade quizzically. She had known her daughter had been oddly nice this morning. "What's going on?" She pushed past her and through the kitchen doors, looking just in time to see James struggling with the handle of the door. "Who's that?!" She demanded, looking at Jade in surprise. But she looked back to catch a glimpse of James' face and her eyes lit up. "YOU SLEPT WITH HER SON?!" Once again, assuming the worst.

That was her mother in a nutshell. She'd gotten her pessimistic tendencies from SOMEONE. She was raised in a dark dark setting.

"MOTHER!" James escaped just in time, slamming the door shut and leaning against it as he heard yells.

What kind of family did she have?! He slid his phone out of his pocket and saw yet another slew of texts, scrolling through them until he found a few from Kendall, Carlos, and Logan. They were worried too! Oh this was so so bad. But so so worth it.

But then his panicked mind flew to the fact that he DIDN'T have Jade's number or even her last name! The most he knew was that she had a Slap page and he didn't even know what that social media site was! How was he ever going to be able to contact her again?

But once he checked his messages again, he saw a new contact: Jade. He released a breath in relief. The message said:

'Call me, Pretty Boy.'

He grinned slightly. Their feuding families might make this harder on them.. but he had a feeling he'd be seeing a LOT of Jade very very soon.

[OoOoOoO]

AN: THIS IS DEDICATED TO ALLOFMEHATESYOU! I'VE DEPRIVED HIM OF SO MANY STORIES, THAT I HOPE THIS MAKES UP FOR SOMETHING! 3

And this is done! I'm actually happier /now/ with it, than I was when I was in the middle of writing it. Hopefully it isn't a disappointment. Because I was really really convinced it was going to be..

Reviews are my life; PLEASE - DON'T - KILL ME!

- Nat


End file.
